Entry Word: ambitious

Function: adjective

Meaning: 1 having a strong desire for personal advancement <an ambitious child actor and his even more ambitious mother, who will do anything to get him in commercials>

Synonyms aspiring, go-getting, self-seeking

Related Words determined, diligent, driving, dynamic, enterprising, gung ho, hustling, industrious, motivated, scrappy, venturesome, venturous; animated, lively, spirited; ardent, avid, eager, energetic, impassioned, keen, raring, vigorous; aggressive, assertive, opportunistic, pushy, self-assertive

Near Antonyms apathetic, disinterested, indifferent, uneager, unenthusiastic, unexcited, uninterested; casual, easygoing, lackadaisical; halfhearted, lukewarm, tepid; lazy, lethargic, listless, shiftless, sluggish, spiritless; unaggressive, unassertive

2 having or showing a bold forcefulness in the pursuit of a goal <cleaning up the vacant lot in one weekend was an ambitious undertaking> — see aggressive 1